Lake Tahoe Brewing opening three more locations in N. Nevada

Lake Tahoe Brewing Owner Michael Candelario poses for a picture in the Carson City location of Lake Tahoe Brewing. Photo by Emily Stott

Brewery opening new locations after bringing belgian influences and craft pizza to Carson City

Updated May 19 at noon: Information about Lake Tahoe Brewing Co.’s Fernley, Nev. location was added, references to the number of locations were changed.

Lake Tahoe Brewing Co. is new to the Northern Nevada brewing scene, but they are bringing several new projects to the area’s craft beer evolution. The brewery will be a quadruple threat to the region with four locations, each offering a different experience catered to that city’s demographic: A brewpub atmosphere in Carson City, barrel aging and growler fills in Reno, kombucha and cider in Truckee and a taphouse restaurant in Fernley, Nev.

Its Carson City location opened in January at the old High Sierra Brewing Co. spot in downtown Carson City. Lake Tahoe Brewing makes small-batch beers using unique ingredients, such as their cucumber blonde or imperial smoked baltic porter. They also offer food fresh out of its wood-fired brick oven.

Owner Michael Candelario learned both of these crafts and brought them to his business.

After completing a brewmasters course that included time in Germany, Candelario worked at an internship in Belgium, where he fell in love with their style of brewing. This affinity is reflected in many of Lake Tahoe Brewing’s beers, including their saison, Belgian ale, abbey-style quad and abbey dubbel — all currently on tap. This is also where he first received a tip to look into Northern Nevada for his new business. Bryan Holloway, Master Brewer at Pigeon Head Brewery, was enrolled in the same course and introduced Candelario to the idea of relocating here.

Candelario also studied how to craft Neopolitan-style pizza in New York and imported an 8,000-pound wood-fired brick oven from Italy to his restaurant. Lake Tahoe Brewing uses the oven for what Candelario describes as “wood-fired cuisine,” which includes pizzas, smoked meats and bread.

Candelario said Neopolitan-style pizza requires a similar dedication to craft brewing and thinks this makes the two a great pairing. This style of pizza involves a specific approach to making the dough and requires skill to properly bake in the oven. Candelario said that restaurants in New York pay $30-50 an hour for the skills required to prepare Neopolitan-style pizza.

This 8,000 wood fire oven was imported from Italy and is used for pizza, bread and smoked meats. Photo by Emily Stott

The Carson City location also offers crowlers as a carry-out option for beer lovers. Crowlers are a 32-oz can-growler hybrid that will sell for about $8. Lake Tahoe Brewing always has 12-15 beers on tap and four to six currently brewing. With their 15-barrel system their capacity is 4,000 barrels a year (124,000 gallons).

“If we do 1-2,000 barrels this year I’ll be happy, ” Candelario said.

In May, Lake Tahoe Brewing will begin hosting live music and trivia nights hosted by Geeks Who Drink.

Reno

About 30 miles north, Lake Tahoe Brewing’s second location is currently under construction on Fourth Street in Reno. In addition to brewing on a smaller scale, the Reno location will feature a barrel-aging program, food trucks, a beer garden and a growler fill station. The barrel aging program is headed up by brewer Elijah Pasciak and will include 300 barrels and foeders (FOOD-ers). The process involves brewing with wild yeasts, heirloom hop varieties and living organisms. They want to open the Reno taproom and growler station in August.

Truckee

On the California side, construction just started for Lake Tahoe Brewing’s location in Truckee. This spot will have a tap room and a smaller food menu. In addition to supporting beer production, this brewery will make cider and kombucha. Candelario plans for this location to open in June.

Fernley

In Fernley, they will open a taphouse and restaurant serving beers made in Carson City.

These are big endeavors for someone who is new to the area, but Candelario said that he’s excited by the support that he’s received in the Carson area so far. Lea Mejia, marketing coordinator, said Lake Tahoe Brewing found good opportunities and deals allowing them to open four separate locations in one year.

“I think it’s promising,” Mike said, explaining that the beer scene in the region is up and coming.

Emily Stott is a journalist who loves wandering around Reno and checking out the food and drink scene. She discovered a love of scotch and whiskey while spending a few months in Scotland, and will happily recommend a drink for you at any bar in Reno.